WWE Smackdown house show
Binghamton, N.Y.
Thanks to Dot Net Reader Aaron Waymire

The arena was about 55-60 percent full. Not nearly as many people as there were back in January when Raw had a house show with Chris Jericho, Shawn Michaels, JBL, Randy Orton, and Jeff Hardy.

Theodore Long and Maria did some bantering to get the crowd hyped.

1. Evan Bourne beat Kenny Dykstra with the Shooting Star Press. Pretty good opener with Bourne doing a few flying headscissor takedowns. His finisher is really cool to see.

2. Michelle McCool beat Victoria with a Faceplant suplex to retain the WWE Divas Title. Victoria is really good at playing up to the crowd and making an ass of herself. For example, she started flexing at one point and then grabbed her arm in pain. Basically, McCool picked Victoria up for a suplex and just dropped her forward.

3. Jeff Hardy beat Shelton Benjamin by DQ when MVP interfered in a U.S. Title match. Like their match on the last Smackdown, this was good. These two have good chemistry. The end came when MVP ran out and eventually shoved Hardy off the top rope, causing the DQ. Hardy fought them both off and gave Shelton the Swanton Bomb.

4. R-Truth beat THE Brian Kendrick (w/Ezekiel) with a rollup. Interesting in that Truth uses his TNA music, and got the fans to do the "What's Up?" chant. Both of these guys seem like they will gradually get over huge. Ezekiel is huge and brings a great presence.

5. Finlay (w/Hornswoggle) beat Mike Knox with a shillelagh shot to the head. Finlay and Horny were their usual comedic selves. Knox looks pretty intimidating with his facial hair grown out. End came when Horny distracted the ref, allowing Finlay to give Knox the shot with the shillelagh. After the match, Finlay brought about five kids into the ring to do the Irish dance (forgive me, I'm not aware what it's called), and also one really big dude who begged his way in. Funny stuff.

6. Curt Hawkins and Zach Ryder beat Jesse and Festus with a Lariat/Chop Block combo in a lumberjack match to retain the WWE Tag Titles. During the night, the fans had a chance to text what kind of a match they wanted to see: 1) Best two out of three falls; 2) Texas Tornado; 3) Lumberjack. Like I thought, it was the Lumberjack match that won. The faces were Finlay, Bourne, and Truth. The heels were MVP, Benjamin, Kendrick, Ezekiel, and Dykstra. I never though the Jesse and Festus team would catch on, but they really are fun to watch. Festus is a pure beast. With Jesse on the outside, Hawkins and Ryder hit their finisher. Post match, the faces cleared the ring and posed a bit.

7. Mark Henry (w/Tony Atlas) beat Matt Hardy with the World's Strongest Slam to retain the ECW Title. Both men did some mic work before the match. Henry got most of the offense. Hardy hit the Twist of Fate towards the end, but Atlas dragged him out of the ring to break up the count. Hardy went back in for the cover, but only for a two. When Hardy tried his finisher again, Henry pushed him off the ropes and hit the slam. Decent match, but kind of slow.

8. Big Show beat Edge with a chokeslam through a garbage can in a Binghamton Street Fight. Edge was great with his entrance, as he made fun of many people along the way. This took awhile to get going, but was a really good match. Garbage cans, cookie sheets, a crutch, and a chair were used. Edge hit the spear, but only for a two count. Edge tried to bail, but Hawkins and Ryder met him in the aisle and sent him back in. Show then gave him a chokeslam for the win. Hawkins and Ryder were celebrating with him, but got met with a double chokeslam. When Show left, Edge chased Hawkins and Ryder out, gave a few more dirty looks to the crowd, and left.

When I was leaving, both Hardys were signing autographs outside. That was pretty cool to see. It was a fun show like always. The TV crew hasn't been here since Kurt Angle was drafted to Raw three summers ago, so I'm still holding out hope.

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